The British have messy houses

When we first arrived in South Africa my then 15yo son returned from his first week in school and said a teacher had stated that 'the British have messy houses' my first thought was what right does she have to make judgement like that. My sons reply to the teacher was that 'the British don't employ maids to pick up after them' We don't employ a maid either.

The teacher was welcoming the kids to their new year in school and was going through some 'house keeping' rules. She wanted the kids to treat the classroom as they would their home, keep it clean and tidy.

During my recent tour of the UK around family and friends I've been met at every door with a hug and 'lovely to see you, you look well, come in, kettle is on, let me help you with those bags and please excuse the mess'

Every house I've visited either has kids in it or building work, redecorating etc going on, or a combination of both.

Without meaning to cause any offence, yes British houses are messy, not dirty, just full of clutter, stuff, things and not a maid in sight. They are like this because British houses are smaller than South African ones, smaller rooms, less space for storage, they are like this because there isn't a maid running around behind them, cleaning up.

It's not just the space that helps keeping a house tidy, it's not having kids living at home.

Differences between the North and the South of one country

We've just returned to Pretoria from 2 weeks in Cape Town and the Garden Route.

We may well have returned to a different country.

Back home in Pretoria I feel like I first did when we moved here nearly 2 years ago.

Except this time I'm not as patient, my empathy has gone, I'm frustrated, I'm on the verge of snapping.

I can sum up the differences between the North and the South of this country with 1 simple example.

Up here in a restaurant what I order, receive and then pay for is very different.

I understand Cape Town is a tourist destination, but you'd think enough people have visited, lived in both parts of the country to try and make changes up here to the way people live, use their initiative and train the staff to think for themselves and not just do what they are told, unable to problem solve leaving the customer, the staff member and the manager furious with one another.

It's not just the restaurant, that is a typical example from my experience of every aspect of everything here in the north.